Indicating device



Get. 21, 1958 M. A. BRUNER INDICATING DEVICE Filed April 10, 1958 agi,

United States Patent Oiice Patented Oct. 21, 1958 INDICATING DEVICE Mates A. Bruner, Clifton Heights, Pa., assigner of fiftyone percent to 0. K. Johnson, Omaha, Nein'.

Application April 10, 1958, Serial No. 727,680 6 Claims. (Cl. 40--68) This invention relates to an indicating device, and more particularly to a device which is especially designed to be attached between the end of a watch band and a wrist watch case, and which is adjustable to indicate either the day of the week, or the day of the month. Preferably, a day-of-the-week indicating device is disposed between one end of the`watch band and the watch case and a day-of-themonth indicating device is disposed between the other end of the watch band and the watch case.

Such calendar devices are known in the art, as exemplied by Patent No. 2,559,211, issued July 3, 1951, and such devices have generally been very satisfactory in operation. However, the devices hereto-fore proposed have been expensive and complicated to manufacture and have required a high degree of accuracy in the formation of parts.

It is a general object of this invention to provide an improved indicating device which is readily and eco nomically assembled from a minimum number of component parts, is easily adjusted, and yet is rugged and reliable in operation.

According to this invention, an indicating device is provided including a crown having a head portion and a shank portion extending through a wall portion to be keyed to an indicating roller with cam means provided between the shank portion and the wall portion to pull another wall portion into engagement with the side of the roller on axial movement of the crown, and thereby frictionally lock the roller against rotation. It will be appreciated that this arrangement permits the roller to be readily locked and unlocked, and yet requires a minimum number of parts.

A specific feature of the invention is in the provision of resiliently deformable material in the portion of the roller engaged by the second wall portion, to obtain more reliable frictional locking of the roller and at the same time to reduce the accuracy required in the formation of parts.

Another feature of the invention is that the parts can be readily assembled and disassembled. In particular, a casing is provided having an open side for receiving the roller and an end wall adjacent one end of the roller, with a cover being disposed over the open side of the casing after the roller is disposed therein, the cover being provided with an end wall adjacent the end wall of the casing, and such end walls being apertured to receive the shank of the crown, so that the insertion of the crown serves to hold the parts in assembly.

Other and more specific objects, features and advantages will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred em* bodiment and in which:

Figure l is a plan view of an indicating device constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along line IIIa-III lof Figure 1.

Reference numeral 10 generally designates an indicating device constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention. The device 10 generally lcomprises a casing 11 having therewithin a pair of rollers 12 and 13, with numerals or other indicia in arcuately spaced arrangement around the periphery of the rollers 12 and 13, such numerals or indicia being visible through an opening or window 14 in the casing 11.

A pair of crowns 15 and 16 are respectivelykeyed to the rollers 12 and 13, the crowns 15 and 16 having conventional knurled head portions 17 and 18, respectively.

In operation, either of the crowns may be pull-ed outwardly from the casing, the crown 15 being illustrated in such a position. The crown may then be readily rotated to any desired angular position and thus bring any desired number or other indicia in view through the window 14.

The crown is then pushed inwardly and through means to be described more in detail, the roller is frictionally locked against rotation. The crown 16 is illustrated in its inward position.

The illustrated device 10 may be used to indicate the day of the month and is designed to be mounted between the end of a watch band and the casing of a conventional Wrist watch. For this purpose, the casing has a pair of spaced ilange portions or lugs 19, having apertures 20 arranged to receive the ends of a spring-pin or spring-bar to which the end of the watch band is attached. On the other side thereof, the casing `11 carries an integral sleeve portion 21 arranged to receive a spring-pin or spring-bar carried between the lugs of a conventional wrist watch case.

A day-of-the-week indicating device may be disposed between the other end of the watch band and the wrist watch case. Such a device requires only a single roller within the casing, but will have essentially the same construction as the illustrated device.

As shown in Figure 3, the casing 11 has end wall portions 22 and 23 adjacent the ends ofthe rollers, and a cover member 24 is provided having end walls 25 and 26 respectively adjacent the inside surfaces of the casing end walls 22 and 23.

The crowns 15 and 16 are respectively provided with shank portions 27 and 28 which extend through openings in the end walls 22, 23, 25, 26` and into bores 29 and Sil ofthe rollers 12 and 13, respectively, to be keyed thereto. For this purpose, the inner ends of the shank portions are of circular cross section except for tlat portions 31 and 32 and the bores 29 and 30 are of complementary shape, so as to limit rotation between the crowns and the rollers, while permitting relative axial movement thereof.

lt might here be noted that sheets or bands 33 and 341 having indicia printed thereon are wrapped around the rollers 12 and 13, with the ends of the sheets or bands locked in axially extending grooves of the rollers, as illustrated in Figure 2.

It may further be noted that the cover member 24 is provided with integral side wall portions 35 and 36 arranged to engage the inside surfaces of side wall por tions 37 and 33 of the casing 11, as illustrated in Figure 2.

According to this invention, cam means are provided between each shank portion and an end Wall to effect engagement of a wall portion with the side of each roller, on axial movement of each shank portion. In particular, the shank portion 27 and 28 have generally frustoconical portions 39 and 40 arranged to engage inside surface portions of the openings through the end walls to pull either the casing member 11 or the cover member 24, or both, into engagement with a side surface portion of each roller, as each crown moved inwardly, while permitting disengagement of the rollers" from the casing or cover member when the crowns are pulled outwardly to then permit free rotation of the rollers. j

This operation is illustrated in Figure 3, in which the crown `15 is shown pulled outwardly, and in which the roller 12 is free to rotate within the casing. The crown 16 is shown pushed inwardly, and a side surface portion 41 of the roller 13 is en gaged with an inside surface portion 42 of the casing 11. Also, a portion 43 of the cover 24 is engaged with a ring 44 of resilient material carried on a reduced diameter portion 45 of the roller 13. Thus the roller 13 is frictionally locked against rotation. A similar ring 46 of resilient material is disposed on a reduced diameter portion 47 of the'roller 12, to be engaged by a portion 48 of the cover 24.

It is to be noted that the provision of the members 44, 46 of resilient material is an important feature of the invention, in that it insures ample friction to securely lock the .rollers against rotation and at the same time permits greater tolerances in the dimensioning of the parts. In fact, the engagement between the rings 44- and 46 may be relied on solely to produce the frictional locking, and clearance may be provided between the rollers and the cover.

An additional 4feature of the invention is in the provision of grooves 49 and 50 in the shank portions 27 and 28, to receive the wall portions 25 and 26 of the cover 24 when the crowns are pushed inwardly and to thus releasably lock the crowns against axial movement. The grooves are, of course, located adjacent the large diameter Vends of the conical portions 39 and 40.

It is to be noted that in order to achieve the frictional locking, the distance from the inside surface of the open ing 4in the end wall which is engaged with the surface of the shaft in the locked position to the inside surface of the side wall engaged by the roller, should be substantially less than the radius of the groove plus the radius of the side surface portion of the roller which is engaged by the casing or cover member. It is also possible to make the first mentioned distance only slightly less than the sum of the two radii mentioned. In this case, the roller is frictionally held against rotation but the friction can be overcome by manually rotating the crowns without pulling the crowns outwardly, thus further simplifying the construction and operation.

It should also be noted that the ring 44 should be of an elastomeric material such as natural or synthetic rubber.

The device 10 is readily assembled and disassembled. To assemble the device, the 4,rollers are inserted into the casing 11 through the open side thereof, and the cover 24 is then installed, to position the end walls 25 and 26 thereof inside the end walls 22 and 23 of the casing, and to dispose the side walls 35 and 36 of the cover 24 inside the side walls 37 and 38 of the casing. The cover 24 may then be squeezed toward the casing 11, and the crowns 15 and 16 are inserted, being lrotated to properly key to the rollers. To disassemble, the cover 24 is merely squeezed toward the casing 11 and the crowns 15 and 16 are pulled outwardly.

It will thus be apparent that this invention provides an improved indicating device which is readily and economically assembled from aminimum number of cornponent parts, is easily adjusted, and is rugged and reliable in operation.

It may further be noted that the device of this invention may be used for indicating information other than the day of the week or the day of the month. Preferably, the left-hand roller 12, like the right hand roller 13, carries numerals through 9 so as to permit registration of information such as golf scores, as well as the day of the month.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of this invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an indicating device, a roller, a first wall portion adjacent one end of said roller, a second wall portion connected to said first wall portion and disposed adjacent one side of said roller, a shaft extending through said first wall portion and keyed to said roller, and cam Vmeans between said first wall portion and said shaft acting with axial shifting movement of said shaft relative to said roller to pull said second wall portion into engagement with the side of said roller and frictionally lock said roller against rotation relative to said wall portions.

2. in an indicating device, a roller, a first wall portion adjacent one end of said roller, a second wall portion connected to said first wall portion and disposed adjacent one side of said roller, a shaft extending through said first wall portion and keyed to said roller, said shaft having a conical portion acting on said first wall portion with axial shifting movement of said shaft relative to said roller to pull said second wall portion into engagement with a side portion of said roller and frictionally lock said roller against rotation relative to said wall portions.

3. In an indicating device, a roller, a first wall portion adjacent one end of said roller, a second wall portion connected to said first wall portion and disposed adjacent one side of said roller, a shaft extending through said first wall portion and Ikeyed to said roller, said shaft having a conical portion acting on said first wall portion with axial shifting movement of said shaft relative to said roller to pull said second wall portion into engagement with a side portion of said roller and frictionally lock said roller against rotation relative to said wall portions, and said shaft having a detent groove adjacent the large diameter end of said conical portion for receiving said first wall portion and releasably locking said shaft against axial movement.

4. In an indicating device, a roller, a first wall portion adjacent one end of said roller, a second wall portion connected to said first wall portion and disposed adjacent one side of said roller, a shaft extending through said first wall portion and keyed to said roller, and cam means between said first wall portion and said shaft acting with axial shifting movement of said shaft relative to said roller to pull said second wall portion into engagement with the side of said roller and frictionally lock said roller against rotation relative to said wall portions, the portion of said roller engaged by said second wall portion being dened by resiliently deformable material.

5. In an indicating device, a roller having a bore extending axially inwardly from one end face thereof, a casing member having an open side for receiving said roller and including an end wall, a cover member arranged to close said open side of said casing member and including an end wall adjacent said end wall of said casing member, said end walls having openings aligned with said bore, a crown having a head portion outside said casing and a shank portion projecting through said openings into said bore to be keyed to said roller, and cam means between said shank portion and at least .one of said end walls acting with actual movement of said crown to pull one of said members into engagement with a side portion of said roller and frictionally lock saidv roller against rotation.

6. In an indicating device, a pair of rollers disposed with end faces in abutting relation and having bores extending axially inwardly from the other end faces thereof, a casing member having an open side for receiving said rollers and including a pair of end walls adjacent said other end faces of said rollers, a cover member arranged to close said open side of said casing 4member and including a pair of end walls adjacent said end walls of said s casing member, said end walls having openings aligned with said bores, a pair of crowns having head portions associated rller and thereby frictonally lock said roller outside said casing and shank portions projecting through against rotation. said openings of said end walls into said bores to be keyed to said rollers, and cam means between each of References Cited in the ile of this patent said shank portions and at least `one of said end Walls 5 acting with axial movement of said crowns to pull one of UNITED STATES PATENTS said members into engagement with a side portion of the 679,462 Kennedy et al July 30, 1901 

